You can find this anywhere, of course. Still, given that we’ve talked at length about the issues that prompted this speech, it seems odd not to post the text here.
I’m just home from jury duty but will try to think of something to say about this later. For now, though, I haven’t seen it; I’ve only read it. But it seems like a very good speech. Check that, an uncommonly good speech, noteworthy for its candor and eloquence. I want to say that Obama could, almost singlehandedly, usher in a new era in which oratory and political rhetoric matter again. But I’m not ready to commit to that sentiment just yet. I will, however, say this: if the rumors are true, and Obama wrote this himself over the past few days, it’s hard not to be awed by his skillz.
And now I have to run to my older son’s t-ball game. I can’t be late. Priorities.

21 comments
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March 18, 2008 at 3:51 pm
Levi Stahl
Listening to it today at work, with the current financial mess in mind, it reminded me more than anything of FDR’s Fireside Chats, which at this remove of decades are startling in their candor and detail. Obama’s speech today shared a tone with FDR’s: that of someone speaking clearly and honestly about problems and potential solutions–talking as an adult to adults rather than talking down or carefully couching remarks for later sound bites. I had a similar, possibly vain, hope to what you mention, Ari: that Obama could possibly bring this level of straightforwardness, nuance, and clarity to all sorts of policy issues–the difference between this approach and intelligence and what Bush displayed in speaking about the economy the other day is breathtaking.
I also liked that he wasn’t backing down from anything, wasn’t seeming scared like so many politicians do when they’re trying to explain their way out of a difficult situation, and, though he denounced Reverend Wright’s comments, he refused to denounce him as a person or renounce his longtime friendship. That’s extremely honorable, given the pressure he’s been under over the relationship.
March 18, 2008 at 4:24 pm
urbino
talking as an adult to adults
Yes. That.
March 18, 2008 at 5:59 pm
hilzoy
Ari: if being awed by his skillz is a surprise, I can only assume that you haven’t read Dreams From My Father.
If you haven’t, then — well, I am reluctant to give orders to someone I don’t even know, and it seems totally rude, but what the heck: go buy it. Read it. I would recommend it even if he weren’t running for President. Because he is, in a very serious sense of the word, a real writer. I do not say that lightly.
Hoping you’ll forgive the faux pas. ;)
March 18, 2008 at 6:09 pm
ari
Yes, Hilzoy, I’ve read it. In this case, I wasn’t just talking about the prose, which is quite good, but the ability to produce rhetoric of that sort on such short notice and also when dealing with such high stakes. He’s apparently not just a great writer, in other words, but also a writer able to summon his voice when he needs it. That’s something else again, a rare gift, and just the sort of thing we should want in a president. I’m going to try to write a post about why later.
March 18, 2008 at 6:23 pm
eyeingtenure
There is so much in the delivery, though, and the context. If the text were all you needed to understand the importance of the speech, then this is one of the greatest speeches of all time.
Read that link for a moment. It’s an eloquent call for an end to partisanship, or at least a call for reasonable rhetoric at a time when heightened emotions wreaked havoc on the national government.
Unfortunately, to just read it does a disservice. To really grasp that speech, you have to understand who said it, and under what conditions. After all, it’s Nixon’s First Inaugural.
To listen to him deliver it, one gets the impression that though it was the right message at the right time, he didn’t mean it and his audience didn’t believe it. They clapped anyway.
Obama means what he says. That’s what gets me about Obama, whatever his faults, and it alone explains the cult of personality he has.
March 18, 2008 at 6:28 pm
ari
eyeingtenure, I meant that I had read Dreams From My Father. I’ve now both read and watched much of the speech.
March 18, 2008 at 6:34 pm
andrew
era in which oratory and political rhetoric matter
Like this?
March 18, 2008 at 7:49 pm
Vance Maverick
It’s a really impressive speech, especially in print. I heard excerpts on NPR this morning, and the syntax was coming across as a bit complicated for speaking. But to bring together the various perspectives, in parallax as it were, is a remarkable achievement. Someone who can put this across is a huge asset to the nation, regardless of what happens between now and November.
March 18, 2008 at 9:03 pm
hilzoy
Ari: true enough. A gift I wish I had.
March 18, 2008 at 9:09 pm
urbino
I thought the one note that went “clank” was this:
That it’s completely off-topic is both its sin and its excuse.
March 18, 2008 at 9:25 pm
Vance Maverick
Urbino, as the Unfogged commenters pointed out, the American exceptionalism bit was also a false note. Both sound like electoral calculation. Can’t say I blame him, of course.
One thing I learned about myself in living nearly five years abroad is that I identify strongly, and with great pride, as an American. And yet I’m hard pressed to be specific about what I’m identifying with. It’s not easy for me to come up with generalizations about America that are “at once true and kind” and capture something distinctive about the place, as opposed to, say, Australia. I’m glad I’m not a politician, or I’d be forced to come up with something.
March 18, 2008 at 9:34 pm
urbino
Agreed on all counts.
March 18, 2008 at 9:37 pm
urbino
Rich Lowry’s reaction leaves me utterly mystified and asking: who are those guys?
March 18, 2008 at 10:02 pm
ari
Huh, I’ve been pwned by the commenters. Here and at Unfogged. Oh well. It’s hardly the first time, right?
March 18, 2008 at 10:31 pm
Vance Maverick
If you’re serious about welcoming a return of political oratory, Ari, then I doubt you really think a two-line squib can pwn a thoughtful post.
March 18, 2008 at 10:34 pm
“This is where we are right now. It’s a racial stalemate we’ve been stuck in for years.” « The Edge of the American West
[...] 18, 2008 in Obama, history and current events, memory by ari As noted earlier, today has been an odd day. I spent hours in a stuffy room, listening to the stories of my fellow [...]
March 18, 2008 at 10:35 pm
ari
a thoughtful post
You’ve seen one? Where?
March 18, 2008 at 10:43 pm
Vance Maverick
Seen it? I’ve savored it, imbibed it, learned it by heart.
March 20, 2008 at 6:55 pm
Adrienne
Obama’s an amazing speaker.
Here’s something pretty cool, just in case you haven’t seen it…
March 20, 2008 at 9:38 pm
eyeingtenure
Oh. Well. My comment stands for the general case, I guess.
March 26, 2008 at 11:07 pm
Richard Mellon Scaife: As Bad as the Kansas-Nebraska Act? Or the Fugitive Slave Act? « The Edge of the American West
[...] like the ones I was considering making in my post were fair. Second, Senator Obama’s recent speech, prompted by Reverend Wright’s comments, suggested that Democrats should lower the [...]